208 COPPER, GRAPHITE 



been proved to exist. The outcrops throughout the district 

 have been described by the Government geologists as in- 

 numerable and phenomenally rich '- 1 Cloncurry is 480 miles 

 west of Townsville, with which it is connected by rail. 



(c) New South Wales. The Great Cobar Mine, 464 miles 

 west of Sydney, is the most important mine worked at present ; 

 though copper occurs in many other places. 



(d) Western Australia. Copper is widely distributed, though 

 the mines at present are not much worked. 



(e) Tasmania. Mount Lyell, in the west of the island, is 

 one of the principal sources of supply in Australia. 



2. Canada, (a) British Columbia supplies more than half 

 the Canadian output. The mines are chiefly in the south, in 

 the boundary district, though large bodies of ore are known to 

 exist in many other places. 



(6) In Ontario copper ores occur mixed with nickel ores in 

 the Sudbury district, north of Lake Huron. There are also 

 small deposits in the Province of Quebec (chiefly at Sher- 

 brooke, south of the St. Lawrence) and in the Yukon district. 



3. South Africa. Copper stands second in importance 

 among the mineral products of South Africa. Oakiep, in 

 Namaqualand, ninety-two miles from Port Nolloth, and 

 Concordia are the chief centres, though mining is also carried 

 on in the north of the Transvaal, and to some extent in the 

 Orange Free State and Natal. 



In all these places the amount of metal at present produced 

 bears but a small proportion to that which is known to 

 exist. Yet it is estimated that the present actual production 

 of copper within the empire is sufficient to supply 72 per cent, 

 of Britain's requirements and 60 per cent, of the whole 

 empire's requirements. 



We import, however, now, from empire sources only 27 per 

 cent, of what we use. 



GRAPHITE is a form of carbon and is chemically identical 

 with the diamond. As it is black, and was formerly supposed 

 1 Our First Half Century : a Review of Queensland Progress. 



